London open: Struggle in early trade
19th Nov 2010 08:31
An early retreat follows losses for the mining heavyweights, though it's Capita that leads the fallers Friday. Outsourcing giant Capita yesterday said revenue growth in the second half of 2010 had been subdued due to government cuts in public spending. Rio Tinto, BHP Billiton, Kazakhmys and Anglo
Read moreeBay takes Big 4 lenders to task
15th Nov 2010 13:15
Online auction site eBay has joined the chorus of organisations grumbling about a lack of lending to small businesses on the part of banks. The web site's Online Business Index, a bi-annual report into the attitudes and performance of hundreds of online businesses operating on eBay's UK site, indic
Read moreMonday newspaper round-up: HSBC, Royal Mail, Marks & Spencer...
8th Nov 2010 06:34
Some of the biggest trade finance providers, led by HSBC and Standard Chartered, are lobbying to have tough capital rules toned down, warning that if they are not, world trade could be severely hampered, the FT reports. HSBC, among the banks that dominate the trade finance market, said last week th
Read moreWeekend tips round-up: Imperial Tobacco, HSBC, Rentokil...
7th Nov 2010 10:22
Last week's full-year results from Imperial Tobacco were reassuring, but even cigarette companies are not immune from the recession. The key trend in the results was a move by consumers to rolling tobacco away from cigarettes as people tried to limit expenditure. The shares are trading on a Septemb
Read moreLondon close: Footsie boosted by US jobs
5th Nov 2010 16:52
Footsie rallied in the afternoon session on the back of better than expected US monthly jobs numbers to register its highest close since June 2008. Non-farm payrolls climbed by 151,000 in October, in spite of an 8,000 reduction in government payrolls, as private employers embarked on a recruiting s
Read moreLondon afternoon: Blue chips perk up
5th Nov 2010 15:00
Footsie has rallied as the afternoon session has progressed with miners making good gains on the back of better than expected US monthly jobs numbers. Vedanta is now the best performer, with silver miner Fresnillo, ENRC and Antofagasta all making good gains. Part-nationalised bank Royal Bank of S
Read moreFTSE 100 movers: Banks head lower
5th Nov 2010 13:21
There was a negative reaction to the bank figures today. Royal Bank of Scotland fell into the red in the third quarter. It recorded a loss before tax of £1,379 million, compared with a profit of £1,157m in the second quarter and a loss of £2,077m in the third quarter of 2009. HSBC warned that the
Read moreLondon midday: Footsie subdued after surge
5th Nov 2010 12:19
Footsie remains slightly adrift following a mixed morning that has seen shares moving in both directions in the wake of yesterday's surge. Part-nationalised bank Royal Bank of Scotland is lower after it fell into the red in the third quarter. After restructuring costs, amortisation of intangibles a
Read moreLondon open: Modest start after yesterday's party
5th Nov 2010 09:00
Footsie has posted more gains but some of yesterday's euphoria has worn off after a mixed day so far for the banks. Part-nationalised bank Royal Bank of Scotland saw a 10% increase in its core operating profit in the third quarter over the preceding one. Core operating profit, excluding fair value
Read moreHSBC warns over emerging market growth
5th Nov 2010 08:20
HSBC has warned the pace of growth in emerging markets is slowing and recovery from recession may take longer than in previous downturns. "Our latest data from emerging markets points to a slowdown in the rate of recovery and the likelihood of some bumps in the road ahead," the banking giant said.
Read moreHSBC's £2.1bn rolling stock disposal
4th Nov 2010 17:47
HSBC is selling Eversholt Rail Group for £2.1bn to a group of investment funds. The sale price is slightly higher than the book value of the assets. Eversholt is one of the UK's main rolling stock companies. It provides 29% of the UK's rail rolling stock to passenger and freight markets. The train
Read moreLondon close: US breathes life back into Footsie
1st Nov 2010 16:42
A good early performance from Wall Street helped Footsie snap out of a weak spell to close in positive territory. US shares were boosted by a bigger than expected rise in factory output in October. The Institute for Supply Management's manufacturing index rose to 56.9 last month. Analysts thought
Read moreLondon afternoon: Banks and miners lead advance
1st Nov 2010 15:14
Footsie pulled out of its late morning slump over the lunch time session to move firmly back into positive territory, though investors are still reluctant to commit too heavily ahead of tomorrow's mid-term US elections, and the quantitative easing decisions expected this week from the Bank of Englan
Read moreLondon midday: Footsie subdued after buoyant start
1st Nov 2010 12:02
Footsie has failed to rediscover its early-morning buoyancy and sits in the blue by a few points. Among the laggards is Serco. The company, which carries out work for the government such as operating prisons and London's Docklands Light Railway, has taken a knock after it was forced to make a grove
Read moreLondon open: Footsie charges higher
1st Nov 2010 08:32
High demand for banks and miners got the week off to a good start, offsetting weakness in the outsourcing sector. Banks are going well as trading updates loom. Lloyds Banking Group is getting ready for tomorrow's statement with a 2% jump, while Royal Bank of Scotland and HSBC are also making up gr
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